System Engineer - TS/SCI

The Fountain Group; Washington (District of Columbia); On-site; USD 123,984 - 133,021; Full time

Job summary

A leading consulting firm seeking an experienced Senior System Engineer to support a critical program near Washington, DC. The role requires a TS/SCI clearance with an active Full Scope Polygraph and consists of systems engineering tasks in a classified environment. Key qualifications include 8+ years of systems engineering experience, proficiency in Linux, and strong scripting abilities. This position offers a pay range of $90-96.56/hour and focuses on a mission-critical environment in the Intelligence Community.

Qualifications

• Must have TS/SCI clearance with Full Scope Polygraph prior to start.
• 8+ years of systems engineering experience in classified environments.
• Experience in both connected and disconnected classified environments.

Responsibilities

• Support mission-critical programs within the Intelligence Community.
• Engage in system engineering lifecycle activities.
• Produce technical documentation and interface with users.

Skills

Strong situational awareness in IC programs

Deep Linux proficiency (RHEL, CentOS, Rocky Linux)

Experience with FreeIPA and Microsoft Active Directory integration

Hands-on STE/STN installation and management

GOTS software maintenance

Automation scripting (Bash, Python)

Testing and troubleshooting across systems

Technical documentation production

Strong communication skills

Education

Bachelor's degree preferred or 4+ years equivalent experience

Tools

VMware vSphere

Kubernetes

Ansible

Job description

NOTE: Clearance is required for this position. SpecificallyTop Secret/SCI with Active Full Scope Polygraph must be active prior to start.

Client Confidential.

This is an onsite role near Washington, DC.

Pay: $90-96.56/hour. W2 only.

Duration:5 yrs

Overview

We are seeking an experienced Senior System Engineer (Level 3) to support a mission-critical program within the Intelligence Community. This is an on-site position in a Sensitive Compartmented Information Facility (SCIF) environment requiring a TS/SCI clearance with an active Full Scope Polygraph prior to consideration - no exceptions.

Qualifications

Top Secret/SCI with Active Full Scope Polygraph – must be active prior to start.

Bachelor’s degree preferred; additional relevant 4+ years of experience in lieu of degree considered.

8+ years of systems engineering experience in classified DoD/IC environments, with demonstrated expertise across the full system engineering lifecycle.

Required Skills

• Strong, hands‑on situational awareness (SA) experience in an IC program context.
• Deep Linux proficiency across RHEL, CentOS, and Rocky Linux: installation, configuration, management, and security hardening.
• Experience with authentication and authorization systems: FreeIPA identity management and/or Microsoft Active Directory integration on Linux.
• Hands‑on STE/STN installation, configuration, and management experience in both connected and disconnected classified environments.
• Demonstrated GOTS software experience: installation, configuration, and ongoing maintenance of government‑provided software products.
• Proven ability to create, read, and modify automation scripts in Bash and/or Python.
• Strong testing and troubleshooting skills across complex, multi‑component systems.
• Ability to produce technical documentation and drawing packages (system designs, ICDs, test plans, as‑builts).
• Comfortable operating within a small, agile, mission‑focused team that interfaces regularly with users, customers, and adjacent technical teams.
• Strong written and verbal communication skills in a security‑controlled environment.

Desired Skills

• Familiarity with shared storage solutions (NAS, SAN, distributed storage such as Ceph).
• Virtualization and containerization experience: VMware vSphere, KVM, Docker, Kubernetes, or Podman.
• Data flow design experience in classified or sensitive network environments.
• Familiarity with IT automation and configuration management tools: Ansible, SaltStack (SALT), or equivalent.
• Familiarity with Helm Charts and YAML‑based configuration management for containerized workloads.
• DevOps experience including CI/CD pipeline design, GitOps workflows, and infrastructure‑as‑code practices.
• Experience with air‑gapped or disconnected network environments and offline software lifecycle management.
• DoD 8140/8570 IAT Level II certification (Security+, CASP+, or equivalent).